Night of Woe
by Ke
Summary: A late winter night. A phone call. A pair of childhood sweethearts unable to unite. ShinRan Angst (Just a bit). Please R


KudoEdogawa presents...

Night of Woe

~*~  
To A.C.  
~*~

It was a cold night in January. Snowflakes were falling gently onto the street outside. Edogawa Conan awoke with a shiver. He looked at his watch and a luminous 02:09 greeted him. Unable to go back to sleep, he put on a jacket and stepped quietly out of the room, careful not to wake Kogoro up.

He shut the door and a light attracted him; it was coming from Ran's room, and the door was open. He entered the door, "Ran-neechan?" There was no one in the room. Conan went inside and saw on her desk, a journal. _Ran has been writing late at night again_, he thought. Next to the diary was a blue pen, its cap a short distance from it. Conan picked both up and capped the pen, and he noticed something: the picture of him as Shinichi, taken with Ran at Tropical Island was gone.

He turned around and found the picture lying downwards on the bed, there were also several stains on the bed... Ran had been crying.

He left the room and proceeded downstairs to the agency, there was a small light; the lamp on Kogoro's office desk was turned on. Conan stood by the door and watched: Ran was sitting by the desk, facing the window and staring at the emptiness outside. A flurry of snow came into the house; the window was open.

"Ran-neechan..." Conan said in a small whisper. Ran didn't seem to have heard him.

Conan traveled slowly back upstairs and search for his cell phone and dialed a number that has long been engrained in his mind. He could hear a small ringing from downstairs, and after a while, he heard her say downstairs, as well as through the phone, "Hello, Shinichi."

"Ran..." Conan said through the voice-changing bow tie.

"Do you realize how late it is?" Ran asked.

"Yeah... I'm sorry. But I couldn't help it... I wanted to talk to you so much," said Conan, and that was a truth.

Silence.

He could hear her breathings, it sounds rushed. "When are you-"

"I don't know," he cut her off. He could tell she was crying from the small stutters when she spoke, apparently trying to hold back her tears.

"Why are you crying?" Conan asked. What a stupid question!

"I just got a little cold, I'm not crying," said Ran. Yeah right.

Silence again.

"I miss you, Ran."

"Then come back, so you can see me!" Ran shouted, tears streaming down her face.

_I wish I could... I want to hold you in my arms... I want to bid you good night every night... I want to tell you just how much I miss you, and how much I love you._ Those words just won't come out! "Ran... I wish that I could go back to you... it's just so different without you. Every morning I wake up, hoping to see you nagging at me to get ready for school, and walking by my side."

"Shinichi...? Do you..."

"Bah, don't listen to me. I'm speaking nonsense... it's late, I'm tired."

Conan stared out at the moon, glowing ever so peacefully with the snowflakes decorating the scenes. Wouldn't it be so much better if life was like this night? Tranquil, peaceful, without much to worry.

"The moon is beautiful tonight," Shinichi said.

Downstairs, Ran stared out the window and looked at the moon. "It is."

_No, I wasn't speaking nonsense, Ran. I really want to be next to you... as Shinichi._

"Ran, I..." He blurted out.

Pause.

"Yes?" Ran asked, anticipating the next two words.

But they did not come.

"Nothing," Shinichi said. "Close the window and get some sleep, it's late."

"I know," said Ran with a tint of disappointment in her voice.

"Then... I guess it's good night?"

"Yeah... good night."

Their fingers lingered a while above the red key on the phone, not wanting to hang up. Conan's small hands trembled a bit and hit the key, disconnecting them with a _beep!_ He gasped. And sighed. Ran's face saddened downstairs as no more breathing can be heard through the phone, only had it lasted a bit longer.

Ran sat at the desk still, tears dropping silently, her expression blank as she tries to recall the wonderful feeling when Shinichi was still with her. A flurry of snow came into the room and Ran remembered what Shinichi told her to do. She got off her chair and made to close the window.

How did Shinichi know that the window was open?

She shut the window and traveled upstairs and back into her room. She sat on her bed and picked up the picture and looked at it. Wiping her tears away, she stood up and replaced the picture in its original spot. She stared at it for a while, running a finger over Shinichi's face, and she gave a small, but painful smile.

She closed the pink-covered diary next to her hand, and spotted the capped pen: Conan was awake... what a thoughtful child. _If only he was Shinichi..._ She thought as she sat back on her bed.

"Shinichi... I need you back."

She buried her face in her arms and began crying, in the room next doors, Conan was doing the same. Neither slept, neither could.

****************************************************

Written: 01-09-2004  
Edited: 04-24-2004

I originally wrote it in the span of twenty minutes, but never got to publishing it because I didn't think there was enough angst, but I guess it was the best I could do for now. Please review!


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